The Raptors have dropped 13 games in a row, and they now face LeBron James and the Lakers on Tuesday (7:00 p.m. ET, TSN). Toronto obviously opened as a big underdog, but we’ve identified some best bets that yield value ahead of this interconference clash.
Darko Rajaković’s squad isn’t just losing — it’s careening toward a franchise-record. The Raptors franchise has encountered four different losing streaks of 13 in a row since joining the NBA in 1995, but its worst streak ever was 17 in 1997-98. If the Raps keep losing, they’ll break the franchise record against Pascal Siakam and the Pacers at home on April 9. The irony!
The Lakers, meanwhile, remain hungry. They sit in the nine-seed in the West, but they’re only 1.5 games behind the Kings and Suns for the 7th and 8th seeds. The difference between seven and nine is huge — seven means home-court in the Play-In, and requires you to win just one game to advance to the playoffs. King James and Anthony Davis will be raring to go.
Let’s dive into the odds for this lopsided interconference battle, then uncover some stats and trends and reveal our predictions, best bets, and top player props from BetMGM.
Raptors vs. Lakers odds, pick against spread
All odds and props are from BetMGM, an authorized gaming operator of the NBA.
- ATS: Lakers -10.5 (-110) | Raptors +10.5 (-110)
- Moneyline: Lakers -650 | Raptors +450
- Over/under: O 221.5 (-105) | U 221.5 (-115)
No surprises here. The undermanned Raptors have gone just 13-25 straight up and against the spread at home this season, which tells us that Toronto’s losses haven’t even been all that close. They can’t stay hot offensively, or step up defensively to slow down superior offensive players.
The Raps’ average margin of defeat during this 13-game skid: 17.1 points. Their against-the-spread record in that span: 3-10. Their cover rate over the past eight games: 11.1 percent (1-8). New York crushed Toronto 145-101 last Wednesday, then Philly cruised past the Raps 135-120 on Sunday.
Raptors vs. Lakers best bets and final score prediction
Look, we’ve been telling you for a while here: betting against the Raptors has become about as good a bet as you can make in sports right now. They’re 13-25 against the spread at home and 3-10 ATS over their past 13 contests. Unless the sportsbooks start making them 20-point ‘dogs, we have to keep going back to the well.
The Raps are starting Javon Freeman-Liberty and giving considerable run each game to Jordan Nwara, Garrett Temple, and Kobi Simmons. They have decent scorers in Gradey Dick and Gary Trent Jr. — and Kelly Olynyk has been a solid playmaker — but they don’t have anyone who can consistently take over games.
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Newsflash: the Lakers have a couple guys who fit that bill. James remains the most dominant downhill scorer in basketball. AD can dominate the paint like no other big man in the Association. Austin Reaves and D’Angelo Russell both have silky-smooth touches from outside the arc. The Raps don’t stand a chance against L.A. without Barnes and Poeltl, never mind without those two and R.J. Barrett and Immanuel Quickley.
The Lakers have covered in three of their past four road games, with the only negative blip on the radar coming in Indiana against Tyrese Haliburton and the pesky Pacers. Darvin Ham’s squad doesn’t let off the gas against bad teams at this time of year, especially when there’s such incentive to close out the season strong.
Bet on L.A. taking care of business and Toronto moving one step closer to franchise infamy.
FINAL SCORE PREDICTION: 76ers 121, Raptors 104 — The Lakers win (-650) and cover (-10.5), and the score finishes OVER the projected total (221.5).
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Raptors vs. Lakers top player prop bet
Anthony Davis rebounds — OVER 13.5 (-130)
Davis has pulled down an unfathomable 17 rebounds per game over the Lakers’ past six contests, and we have no reason to believe he will slow down against the Raptors on Tuesday. Without Jakob Poeltl, Toronto has been miserable on the glass. In the month of March, Darko’s guys averaged just 37.9 total rebounds per game. Bet on AD to gobble up boards like I gobbled up ham on Easter Sunday.
